Double Trouble
by ThatisneverThat
Summary: Set around a year in the future, but assuming Dark Water/Death In Heaven didn't happen. Clara comes back from another journey with the Doctor, but this time there's something slightly odd about her...


**This one shot is the fault of ma good friend Bobbie who wanted more Clara Echo stories. And here we have it. Idk how good it is, but it's a generally happy story kinda funny at times (I tried) and yeah. I hope you enjoy.**

Wandering off. Why did they always wander off?! There were days when he thought maybe Clara was different – early on – before she settled. Now she would just disappear at a moments notice, or no notice! The Doctor had pretty much given up, he knew she'd reappear at some point and so he carried on walking around the market place, admiring various different species of plant from their most recent planet.

What seemed like hours later, he finally spotted her.  
"Clara! Finally, where have you been all this time? Come on let's get back I think we've seen enough." She looked at him oddly, but then, when didn't she? "Don't worry I'll have you back at the right time we won't have a repeat of last time…"

"I have to say I'm a little confused?" He sighed, shaking his head.

"Come on!" There was no time for explaining – he was bored, this adventure turned out much more dull than he had expected – evidently the flower planet was basically just that – a planet with lots of flowers. Clearly she'd enjoyed it much more than him, but maybe it was a human thing. None the less, they were now headed back to the TARDIS, although Clara much more reluctantly than he'd hoped.

"What exactly are we doing?" She asked, looking around the console room almost in amazement. He ignored her. "Hello?"

"Right. Yes. School time! You have a class to teach I'm sure; I have… things… to do. 30 seconds as normal? Good." He didn't actually wait for an answer; in fact he wasn't entirely sure why he'd asked, but either way they were now back on Earth – 11:15:32 precisely. "Well off you pop then, enjoy a bit of Shakespeare. Actually, there's something we haven't done yet. Although have to be careful when abouts we visit, don't want a witch fight again." Her blank look was a little odd, not that he noticed. She backed out the TARDIS door without really saying anything, smiling a little before shutting the door and turning round, almost walking in to the door of the cupboard she was now in.

After a few moments of working out where she was, Clara opened the door and entered a hallway – he wasn't kidding when he said school.  
"Miss Oswald!" One of the pupils was stood by her saying this. "Miss Oswald?" It took a moment to realise he was talking to her.

"Sorry, think you got the wrong person kid." She replied, utterly bemused.

Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, another man appeared – presumably a teacher here.  
"Run along Ryan, go on." He spoke, waiting for the child to disappear before taking her hand and dragging her to a classroom which, she noticed, had 'Miss Oswald' written on the door – interesting – whoever this teacher was she was clearly popular. "Clara what are you doing? Where have you been? What on earth has he done to you?" So many questions, this was an awful lot to process! She only went shopping!

"I have no idea… I have no idea and what has who done to me? Oh, and how do you know my name?!" She replied, not that there was much to complain about – he was pretty gorgeous, even as he sighed.

"Okay we have got to get you home." The first sensible thing that had happened to her in the last 20 minutes! "Come on I'm free now anyway."

"Thanks." She replied, a little dazed but glad someone was finally making sense.

This wasn't home.

They walked in to some completely odd flat, although it was quite neat which she appreciated, and this man was now trying to make her tea. When he had finally finished what appeared to be a very long process for a cup of tea, he bought it over to her and then, to her complete surprise, put a hand to her cheek, carefully moving her hair away from her eyes.

"Are you hurt? Does your head hurt?" He asked, looking her over. Clara carefully stepped away, beginning to wonder what was going on here. It probably wasn't advisable to go to a strange place with a total stranger who seemed to be acting like he'd known you for years.

"Sorry but what's going on here?" She asked. At that moment the man paused and walked around her slowly. "Who are you?! Can I please just get home I've had enough strange men taking me places today."

"Clara Oswald…" He said almost in a whisper, he looked upset – a new twist in the tale.

"Sorry who? I'm Clara Oswin." Well that seemed to shock him a little. "If we're doing introductions it's generally nice to return the favour?"

"Danny Pink… sorry, you're who now? But you look exactly like... okay I'm sorry, please go and sit down, I have a phone call to make."

"Well when you're done can I give my Mum a ring?" His face changed immediately, shocked at that question. Something was definitely not right.

It wasn't a phone call he was expecting. Clara rarely rang so soon after an expedition, she would be too busy with school and annoying pupils, oh and her boyfriend of course. But whether he was expecting it or not, Clara was now ringing him and so it was probably a plan to answer – she didn't like reaching voicemail very much, the last time was traumatic.

"Clara! How lovely to hear from you so soon, did you forget some marking?" He asked, but the answer was not as cheerful.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" He almost had to move the phone away at the volume. "I swear I would slap you right now if I could, except YOU'RE NOT HERE." So she was angry – he'd got that much.

"Sorry did I miss something? I only just dropped you off." There was a pause, he assumed while she checked her timings.

"No Doctor, you most definitely DID NOT! Now will you PLEASE get back here before I die from hayfever which, by the way, is a thing on other planets too evidently!" He checked everything. Including cameras. That was definitely Clara! It was her –absolutely definitely…. Oh.

Ah.

Okay that was… not right.

"Clara I have to ask you a very very important question." The Doctor spoke in a serious voice, which wasn't much of a change really.

"WHAT?!" She replied - still angry then.

"What are you wearing right now?" He asked, still being completely serious. Unfortunately, Clara didn't appear to see it that way.

"THAT is your important question?! Really?!" He sighed; this was really quite taxing when he was trying to solve a problem.

"Clara will you please answer the question, I don't have all day here. Well actually I do, but you may not." She was confused, he was confused, and basically this was a big mess.

Clara sighed, giving in. "Unsurprisingly exactly what I was wearing earlier. Red blouse, black shorts, grey cardigan, nothing exciting. What exactly is your mission here? When are you planning to come and get me?" At least the shouting had sort of stopped.

"As soon as I've saved your boyfriend…" he replied. Clara stopped pacing now.

"Fiancé!" She groaned at him, fed up of correcting him. But then something else occurred to her. "Saved him from what exactly?!" She replied, completely astounded at this revelation.

"You."

The phone was engaged; of course it would be now. This phone was never engaged! Couldn't space phones multitask already?

Danny wasn't supposed to have this number, but he did. He'd taken it in case of emergency, he needed to be sure Clara would be safe and to do that he needed to know there was contact with her at all times. He didn't use it, that would just annoy her, but it was there for emergencies, and today was an emergency.

On the 6th attempt he gave up. Not because he couldn't get through, but because he heard a noise in the bedroom – a very recognisable noise. Danny made his way through to the room, opening the door to find the big blue box sat in the corner as expected. He stormed in, not in the mood for waiting.

"What exactly has happened to my fiancée?!" He shouted, walking right over to the Doctor who was pressing a few buttons as usual.

"I can explain…" The Doctor started.

"Oh can you now?! Because she doesn't know where she is, who I am, or even her own name!" Danny was very close now, and also very angry. He had two very angry teachers to deal with right now.

"That's because she's not your girlfriend!" He shouted back quite slowly to emphasise his point.

"Fiancée!" They replied jointly. The Doctor had stuck the phone on speaker over the TARDIS system and it was a pretty automatic reaction for them both by now.

"Oh alright alright both of you really need to get over that. Move in together, get a cat! Maybe I'll have a chance." He was still looking at things on the screen, it looked to Danny like he was scanning something but he was hardly an expert in this place, he barely stepped foot inside. Either way he was now very confused.

"Clara?" He asked, looking back towards the TARDIS doors.

"Ah yes, Clara Danny, Danny Clara. You know each other as we've already established." Danny awaited further explanation. "She's currently enjoying some flowers on another planet. There's been a small mix up."

"Small?! You've just taken a totally different person back to Earth!" Clara came over the system. Danny had to smile somewhat at her anger, but quickly turned back to the problem in hand. A different person did make sense but…

"Not _totally_ different. She actually looks very similar!" The Doctor replied.

"He is right; she does look exactly the same Clara." Danny added – it wasn't often he agreed with him, but there was no denying that comment.

"OF COURSE she looks the same, she's practically a bloody clone! But she is NOT meant to be there and she is definitely not me!" Clara was going for them both now, but Danny was completely confused.

"Okay look she's calling herself Clara Oswin or something? And she's currently sat on your sofa so if someone would like to explain what's going on that would be great." Danny was getting a little fed up with the seeming lack of urgency here. There was clearly some story behind this which he'd not been filled in – now was probably the time to do that.

Unfortunately they were slightly interrupted by the TARDIS doors opening. Danny and the Doctor both looked round to see Echo Clara walking in, and she now didn't appear to be wearing as much…

"Hiding are we?" She asked Danny, seemingly undeterred by both the Doctor and the TARDIS.

"Um…" Danny wasn't quite sure what to say, the last thing he was expecting was this!

"Oh come on, we hardly need company." Echo Clara was leaning against the railings by the door now, beckoning him to head back out. Danny could hear Clara over the speakers trying not to laugh. "What's that noise?"

"That would be my fiancée." Danny replied and Echo Clara suddenly looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah watch it she slaps pretty bad." The Doctor nodded agreeably from behind Danny, Clara sounded pretty offended.

"Alright enough with all this! Can you please just bring her back and we'll swap over?" Clara asked, a little fed up with all the hanging around that was going on.

"Already on it!" The Doctor replied, taking off – a slight shock to Danny and Echo Clara.

Danny couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. He'd taken the phone off speaker and Clara was doing her best to explain it all to him, but it was a lot for him to take in. He was walking around the top level of the console room, trying his best to take it all in while looking down at this other version of his fiancée who was sat in an old coat now.

"So she basically is you then… and there're loads of you? I don't…" He heard a lot of stories from Clara now, but this was the first one he just couldn't understand.

"Across space and time. The chances of us actually running in to one now were pretty slim. She's me, but she's not. She grew up in a different place, a different time; she is a different person believe it or not. I mean I'm saying all this, I've never actually met one of them." Clara explained, sighing gently. "I'm sorry for all this; I promised you'd never get dragged in to it." Danny heard her stop pacing and he could almost picture her face. He had been angry, but this really wasn't her fault, nobody had tried to drag him in to anything, it was all one big accident. Danny stopped walking around too, leaning against the railings and looking down.

"It's just all a little weird and…"Danny started to say, but she interrupted.

"You're here." Clara stated and hung up, appearing through the doors very quickly and running up to Danny who immediately embraced her. "Are you alright?" Clara asked, looking him over.

"Fine, nothing has happened to me. Are you? You feel cold." She hugged back in to him, nodding. The Doctor cleared his throat slightly.

"Piss off you left me out there I need warming up." Clara spoke out, looking over but only briefly. Danny smiled softly, rubbing her back softly but eventually stepped away. "Eh where you going?" She asked, Danny took her hand gently to point out he wasn't going anywhere, but nodded downstairs to where Clara's echo was staring at her completely bamboozled. "Ah right… oh… oh! Is that what I look like? I'd forgotten. Damn you're lucky Danny Pink." Her echo smirked, but Danny shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"What is it with the woman in this TARDIS flirting with themselves?!" The Doctor spoke up. All 3 of them looked over to him for an explanation. He didn't give one. "Clara meet Clara, shockingly you look the same. She's the original, if you like." He told Echo Clara, who was still stood mouth wide open. He stared at her for a moment before looking up to Clara. "What's up with her? Never seen a mirror before?" Clara sighed, shaking her head and going downstairs to meet herself, or not herself.

Clara gently led her to sit down, knowing this was more of a shock to her than any of the rest of them.  
"You alright?" Clara asked, kneeling in front of her. "I know it's a bit weird, I mean it's all very well him telling you but it's another thing seeing it right? I'm sure the last thing you were expecting to do today was find out you exist because I'm a fool who decided to kill myself to save that idiot, but that's kinda where we stand. I'm sorry, but honestly you are your own person. Your life is yours, everything you've ever done and ever will do." Clara spoke, trying to get her to look up. "Although I draw the line at flirting with my man that's most definitely not allowed." Now she smiled, sitting up a little.

"I really had no idea what was going on so…" Clara raised her eyebrows at her echo.

"You thought sex was the answer?" She asked, making her echo blush a very bright shade of red. "Forget it I know you were confused. The good news is, just out there is your home so you're free to go whenever you like. But if you have any questions, now is your time." Danny had come down to join her now, standing behind her. "I'll answer yours later." Clara didn't look up to him, focussing on her echo.

"I kinda get it now… but you intrigue me, how does this work?" She pointed to her and the Doctor and Danny. That wasn't really the question she was expecting, and now Danny and the Doctor were both watching her waiting for the answers.

"Okay we're gonna talk outside because these two will drive me mad otherwise." Clara smiled, standing up and heading out with her, not before Danny had chucked his jacket over her shoulders. "Behave you two, no arguments." She glared at them both before shutting the door and walking off slowly with her echo.

They walked almost silently for a few moments, but eventually Clara formed an answer in her head. "It works better than it did. There was a time when neither of them knew about each other and that was complicated." She started.

"What, like an affair?" Her echo asked, Clara chuckled a little and shook her head.

"Most definitely not. I was already travelling with the Doctor before I met Danny, and it was really just too complicated to explain to him. Then he found out, not exactly in the way I'd planned… in fact they both found out about each other that day. Actually that was a bit like your husband finding out about your boyfriend – I don't recommend it." She looked back on this a lot, too much sometimes. It seemed so long ago now, it was strange. "Anyway we have more of an agreement now. Danny doesn't mind me travelling so long as I come back in one piece and I'm not away for too long – but that wouldn't be practical anyway given my job." She explained.

"Ah – that explains the 30 seconds thing?" Echo Clara replied, beginning to piece things together. "You're a school teacher right? I think one of your pupils wants a word when you get back. They may also be a little confused." Clara chuckled, that'd be a fun one to explain.

"Don't worry, I've explained worse to them in the past. So do you do anything here? I mean I get everything is flowery and that…" Clara asked, not entirely sure where they were heading until they stopped in front of a house with yet another beautiful garden. "This yours?" Echo Clara nodded.

"I'm a nurse; it's my day off today." Clara nodded. "Pretty surreal day off not gonna lie." They both laughed a little.

"Well I'm sorry we got in the way, no confusion was meant I promise." She explained, checking her phone when it vibrated. "I think I have to go…"

"Can I just ask you one more thing?" Her echo asked, something changing in her face. Clara nodded. "What are your family like?" Clara couldn't answer immediately. She had to decide how to reply, what to share, it was difficult.

"It used to be perfect… now it's more dysfunctional." She started, her echo looking interested. "My Mum died when I was 16 and now my Dad has this new woman and we don't really get on… thankfully I have my Gran or I'm not sure what life would be like now." She tried not to look too sombre, but she felt it.

"That explains Danny's reaction when I asked to call my Mum then. Sorry about that. I've been lucky, my Mum and Dad live just down the road so… sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you've got a good family. It's just life you know? There's nothing I can do about it now. I miss her every day, but I also know she wouldn't want it to affect me." Clara smiled softly. "It's been a little weird, but lovely to meet you."

"I'll second that. An odd adventure, but hey. Good luck with everything, especially Danny." She grinned. Clara nodded and started walking back, waving a goodbye.

Danny refused to go back to his that night. They were lying on the sofa together with him gently twirling her hair as they watched TV. Clara wasn't really watching what was on the screen, she was really quite tired after the events of the day, but she didn't want to sleep just yet.

"So I wonder what would have happened if the Doctor hadn't turned up…" She smiled a little up at Danny who didn't really know what to say. "Relax I know you're cleverer than that. I really am sorry though." She sat up slightly, looking him in the eyes.

"Stop apologising, it really is fine. It was quite fun seeing two of you in a room really." He smiled. "The good news is, I still only love one of you." Clara leant her forehead against his.

"Good, because I'm definitely better looking." They both chuckled and he kissed her softly. "I also have the best fiancé. Thank you." Clara smiled; glad the night had finally arrived.


End file.
